Nine people have been killed after a Learjet 60 aircraft crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Palm Beach County, southern Florida, on Sunday, according to US officials.

The aircraft, which departed from Austin, Texas, was heading to the Bahamas when it went down near the Cresthaven neighbourhood, less than seven miles from US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the incident as a horrific tragedy and confirmed that all nine people on board died.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also described the crash as catastrophic, saying there were no immediate reports of casualties among people on the ground.

The aircraft crashed near the entrance to a mobile home park, prompting the evacuation of about 600 residents, who were relocated to temporary shelters, according to Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores.

Footage circulating on social media appeared to show the aircraft plunging towards the ground before exploding into a large fireball.

Trump was at Mar-a-Lago earlier on Sunday but had departed from the nearby airport aboard Air Force One about an hour before the crash.

An audio recording circulating on an air traffic monitoring website captured what appeared to be the aircraft’s crew reporting moderate turbulence and ice accumulation shortly before declaring an emergency.

In the recording, a crew member reportedly warned that the aircraft was descending rapidly, eventually reaching a rate of 20,000 feet per minute, before communications were lost.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to investigate the crash. Severe weather, including storms, had also been reported in the area.